For many years, the menace of age fraud has solid a shadow over Indian sports activities, distorting honest competitors and depriving younger and budding athletes of alternatives. The federal government has now taken decisive steps to deal with this drawback.
Age fraud — the place athletes manipulate delivery data or falsify paperwork to compete in youthful age classes — has lengthy eroded the credibility of competitions. Whereas it is a international concern, its affect in India has been notably extreme, affecting expertise growth throughout disciplines similar to cricket, soccer, and badminton. Regardless of previous efforts, enforcement gaps and outdated verification strategies allowed the issue to persist, eroding belief within the system.
To sort out this, the ministry of youth affairs and sports activities launched the Draft Nationwide Code Towards Age Fraud in Sports activities (NCAAFS) 2025, a much-needed revision to the 2010 framework. Whereas the target of each the codes stays the identical, the 2025 model goals to scale back the issue by making some key additions and modifications.
The revised Code introduces modifications in 5 key areas:
Age verification: In NCAAFS 2010, medical examinations have been the first technique for age verification, requiring all athletes taking part in age-restricted competitions to endure medical assessments. Nevertheless, this course of was time-consuming, pricey, and led to challenges in enforcement. The 2025 model shifts in direction of a document-based verification system, the place athletes should submit three necessary paperwork — delivery certificates, Aadhaar/APAAR ID, and college certificates. This method streamlines verification, enhances accuracy, and aligns with trendy digital governance practices, whereas permitting medical checks for discrepancies.
Medical examination: The 2010 code relied on conventional medical examination strategies similar to bodily, dental, and radiological checks to find out an athlete’s age. NCAAFS 2025 enhances scientific accuracy by introducing the TW3 technique for Bone Age dedication, with AI-powered BoneXpert know-how for preliminary assessments and MRI-based forensic age verification for appeals.
Id card system: The 2010 code required identification playing cards for verified athletes, however the system lacked real-time verification and was susceptible to tampering. The 2025 model modernises this with QR-coded digital identification playing cards linked to the Nationwide Sports activities Repository System (NSRS) Portal.
Attraction mechanism: The 2010 code had a single-level attraction, dealt with by the Regional Director of the Sports activities Authority of India (SAI) or a Nationwide Sporting Federation (NSF) committee, typically resulting in contentious selections. The 2025 model introduces a two-tier attraction system, permitting reassessment by an appellate medical authority and, if wanted, escalation to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC) for a fairer, expert-driven decision.
Implementation duty: Beforehand, SAI and NSFs enforced age fraud rules, however gaps in monitoring continued. Nevertheless, beneath the 2025 model, NSFs shall appoint an integrity officer/compliance officer for each occasion. This may guarantee real-time vigilance, doc verification, and fraud prevention, making enforcement stronger and simpler.
The 2025 revision introduces strict penalties, together with suspension and lifelong debarment for repeat offenders. It additionally establishes a whistleblower mechanism with monetary incentives ( ₹2,000 reward and ₹5,000 refundable price) to encourage reporting. Moreover, a one-time amnesty programme permits athletes six months to self-declare their appropriate age with out penalties.
By integrating digital identification verification, Synthetic Intelligence (AI)-powered medical testing, and stricter penalties, NCAAFS 2025 creates a sturdy framework to eradicate age fraud. With real-time oversight by integrity officers and data-driven monitoring, the brand new code aligns India with worldwide finest practices, strengthening its international credibility.
Sujata Chaturvedi is secretary, division of sports activities, Authorities of India; Aatman Shah is a public coverage skilled. The views expressed are private
